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17 MAY 2010
NO 1578
Partnership with parents
This article will describe work undertaken at Meir Shfeya youth village in Israel. Meir Shfeya youth village is a residential caring community for about 280 young people aged from 13 to 19 years. The young people live in the caring community from one to five years. These young people have left their homes (willingly or by court order) because of various kinds of on-going deprivation, distress and special needs in their home lives. The goal of the project is to ensure the partnership of parents in their children’s developmental and educational processes as they live in the caring community. The project tries to dispel the perception of the families as failures, and the caring community as the omnipotent agent in the life of the child.
Theoretical basis for partnership
Thomas (1992) emphasised that the family is continually
changing and developing. It is confronted with developmental roles and
needs which get more complicated over time. The family as a group must
cope with them. When, in addition to situations of on-going distress,
the family copes with an adolescent, it searches for a solution that
will help the family find a new balance. Ayalon (1984) said that the
family tries to find balance by reorganising roles, making rules, and
determining ways of communication. This is done in order to meet the
needs of the family members. It must be recognised, however, that
different members in the family might have different needs, and that
these needs might conflict with each other. One solution to complicated
situations may be the removal of the adolescent from his or her home in
favour of a caring community. This solution might allow the family and
adolescent to reorganise. At the same time, however, this is a solution
characterised by segregation and might emphasise the rejection of the
adolescent.
Minuchin (1974) points out that as the structure of the family changes, so do the attitudes of all its members. As a result, the fact of an adolescent leaving home creates an opportunity for change for the individual and for the family as a group.
Watslawick, Weakland and Fisch (1979) identify two different kinds of change. The first kind, sometimes known as first degree change, is that of ‘more of the Same'. In this, the removal of the adolescent from his or her family acts as part of a tendency toward rejection preservation. The second kind, sometimes referred to as second degree change, means finding a way out of the cycle of the problem. This is done by acting differently, while facing the tension which exists between the persistence of old patterns and a change to new patterns. Persistence can be expressed in the continuation of the rejection. Change can be expressed by finding other ways to deal with the phenomenon of rejection, discovering its roots, and trying out different manners of behavior. All of these are examples of second degree change.
On this basis, the model of the 'Triangular Connection' was established. Its aim is to bring about a meaningful change in the family system as the adolescent leaves home to the caring community, as he or she stays there, and when it is time for him or her to return home. It attempts to make the act of leaving home a catalyst for a process of second degree change for both the family as a whole as well as for the adolescent as an individual. For that, the family needs to go through a process of change, and not only the adolescent.
The Triangular Connection model consists ofthe following three dimensions:
1. Parent groups supervised by social workers.
2. Shared activities for parents and children such as workshops, trips
and meals.
3. Opening the community to more organised and involved participation on
the part of parents.
In addition to this, there is an on-going dialogue between parents and caretakers concerning each child.
MAYAAN BURSTEIN
Burstein, M. (2006). Working in partnership with
parents: The triangular connection. Scottish Journal of Residential
Child Care, 5, 2. pp. 29-30.
REFERENCES
Ayalon,O. (1984). Precarious balance: coping with stress in the family. Tel-Aviv: Poalim Publications.
Minuchin, S. (1974). Families and family therapy. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard College Publications.
Thomas, M.B. (1992). An introduction to marital and family therapy. London: McMillan.
Watzlawick, P; Weakland, J. H. and Fisch, R. (1979). Change. Principles of problem formation and problem resolution. Palo Alto.CA.: MRI.
